Dalton working on deep passes

Andy Dalton laughed when asked if accuracy on the deep ball had been brought up during the Bengals' offseason workouts. In short, he's heard about it almost every day.

That is why on Tuesday's first day of OTAs, Dalton aired it out on a go route to A.J. Green with Terence Newman covering him.

Said Dalton of that first pass: "Urb (receivers coach James Urban) came up to me and said you already know what the route is, so I knew it was going to be a go ball. Had to set the tone for how it's going to be."

The pass to Marvin Jones later in the session though might have been the nicest of the day. Jones was able to get a couple steps on defensive backs Taylor Mays and Adam Jones as Dalton was able to lay it in there.

Even with those throws, doubts about Dalton being able to consistently throw it deep won't subside any time soon. That is why it has been a focal point during the offseason workouts.

Of balls in the air 20 yards or more last season, Dalton posted the fourth-lowest rating among 19 AFC quarterbacks at 52.9. He was 19 of 73 for 633 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. The 73 attempts were the fifth-most in the conference.

Quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese has been working with Dalton on refining the trajectory and accuracy.

They have also been working on quickening up the time Dalton drops back in the pocket along with throwing the ball a little higher on different throws. Both Dalton and Zampese said that they have already seen improvements.

"It's good to come in and hit some of these. I thought we did a good job," Dalton said. "The receivers are out there running well and we've got a lot of guys making plays. That's what you expect."

Another thing that will help Dalton this season is that he has more intermediate and deep targets. Green for the past two seasons has basically been the lone deep target, but Jones has potential to stretch offenses and first-round pick Tyler Eifert excels on the intermediate stuff. Mohamed Sanu has also shown some ability on deep routes.

While most of the attention on the deep ball has been focused on Dalton, Green tried to deflect some of the criticism and noted that it was up to the entire offense to work together.

Said Green: "I can run them better. Give him a better target to throw the ball. It's on my part, too. We're both going to get better each practice. That's the big focal point coming into OTAs."

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NFL Team Report - Cincinnati Bengals - NOTES, QUOTES

--While this year's first-round pick, Tyler Eifert, has been impressing everyone, questions remain on when last year's top pick, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, will be able to get back on field.

Kirkpatrick continues to rehab from a knee injury after playing in only five games last season.

"I know I'll be back for training camp, but hopefully I can maybe slide into a little OTAs or slide in the three-day minicamp," he said. "It's all about what the doctor is saying right now so I'm just taking it day by day."

Kirkpatrick was mostly on special teams last year and saw some limited action in the secondary.

Meanwhile, cornerback Leon Hall is effected at the start of OTAs because of a torn ligament he suffered while weightlifting. Hall practiced Tuesday, but only in individual and 7-on-7 work.

--Right tackle Andre Smith, who signed a three-year, $18 million contract on April 26, was not at the first practice. Coach Marvin Lewis said it had nothing to do with conditioning.

"He's got to deal with some stuff that he has to take care of and when he gets it taken care of he will be back up here," Lewis said.

Smith was one of six offensive linemen not participating with the others being Clint Boling, Travelle Wharton (knee), Andrew Whitworth (knee), Dennis Roland and Trevor Robinson (pectoral). With drafting three offensive linemen, the OTAs should give Tanner Hawkinson, Reid Fragel and T.J. Johnson plenty of early reps.

--Whitworth and his wife Melissa paid the funeral expenses of Jaleel Gipson, 16, of Farmerville, La., who died on May 13 after suffering a fractured vertebrae during a Oklahoma drill at a spring football practice. Gipson's organs were donated after he was taken off life support. Farmerville is located about a half hour north of Whitworth's hometown of West Monroe.

Whitworth had hoped that the donation would have remained anonymous, but via social media, the word got out. He said that he received an e-mail from one of the parents on the team to come and talk to the team. Since offseason workouts are presently going on here, Whitworth was unable to do that. Instead he decided to do more.

"I still read the papers from down there and now what is going on down there. Anytime you are engaged in the community and the area, something like that happens it is just devastating," Whitworth said. "I am just grateful for the opportunity to serve my community and help ease that family's burden."